Early Start Lifts Top-Ranked GVSU Over Ferris State In GLIAC Women's Basketball Matchup

Allendale, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's basketball squad fought back in the second half, but could not overcome a large early deficit as nationally top-ranked Grand Valley State defeated FSU 78-57 before a big crowd on Saturday (Feb. 8) afternoon inside the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena.

The top-ranked Lakers jumped out to a 26-4 first-quarter lead in the matchup between the league's top two squads and held a 44-13 halftime lead in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tilt.

In the second half, the Bulldogs outscored GVSU 44-34, but it came too late as the Lakers recorded the victory.

Junior Mia Riley tallied a game-high 19 points for FSU in the defeat while senior guard Kenzie Bowers finished with 14 points. Junior Mya Hiram had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers limited FSU to only 30.6% shooting and Ferris State converted only five-of-21 (23.8%) three-point tries while going 14-of-15 (93.3%) at the free throw stripe. The Lakers shot 47.8% from the floor and were 10-of-28 (35.7%) from long range along with four-of-seven (57.1%) at the line.

GVSU had five players reach double-figure scoring with freshman MacKenzie Bisballe totaling a team-best 17 points.

Overall, the Lakers also out rebounded Ferris State by a 49-33 margin while coming down with 12 offensive caroms. GVSU outscored FSU inside the paint by a 42-26 count.

The Bulldogs will head to Michigan's Upper Peninsula next week for matchups on Thursday (Feb. 13) at Michigan Tech and Saturday (Feb. 15) afternoon at Northern Michigan.